Valkyries (10-11) vs. Mercury (15-6) Postgame Notes and Quotes

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WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Valkyries (10-11) vs. Mercury (15-6) Postgame Notes and Quotes

July 15, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


Valkyries (10-11) vs. Mercury (15-6) Postgame Notes, Quotes and Links

Golden State 77, Phoenix 78

By the Numbers

The Valkyries recorded their 11th consecutive sellout in as many home games with 18,064 fans.

Monique Billings was +21 in the contest with nine points and nine rebounds.

Veronica Burton posted 17 points, eight of which came in the third, on 50.0 percent shooting (5-10) and added six assists and two rebounds. Burton also went 3-3 from the line, the ninth time this season she was perfect from the free-throw line, and 4-8 (50.0 percent) from three-point range.

Tiffany Hayes went 4-5 (80.0 percent) from three-point range, and has made eight of her last 12 from deep (66.7 percent) over the past two games. Hayes tallied 15 points and four assists on the night.

Janelle Salaün made the last eight Golden State points, and had 12 in the game with three rebounds.

Golden State went a season-high 14-33 (42.4 percent) from deep, and have made double-digit threes in five straight games.

The Valkyries limited turnovers to just nine, tying a season low.

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE

ON EVALUATING TONIGHT'S GAME:

"I said I was so proud. The execution down the stretch, the fight, how hard we played. I couldn't have ask for a better game. I really do, I really believe that. I told them to keep their heads up. Felt like we did the right things in a very crunch-time moment. We were just making eye contact, we knew what to run.

That type of execution down the stretch was great. Just losing off of a free throw, that to me hurts."

ON JANELLE SALAÜN'S PERFORMANCE DOWN THE STRETCH:

"We were drawing up the play, I kind of looked around who wants it. She gave me this [looks up] I was like, all right, we're going to go with you, Ja. She knocked it down, credit to everyone who was on the floor at that moment. You got to execute everything. The timing, the screening, the setup. I think that's why I'm not as upset. I am just because of the beauty of the execution down the stretch. Her making a tough three. I didn't put her in until the very end, It was kind of like when she was cold. It kind of flipped today for Ja. Then boom, we ran into the next play, she makes another jumper. It's beautiful basketball, so proud of her. Also her teammates and everyone supporting, everyone did their job tonight. It's just, again, unfortunate that they get to win a game off of a free throw. With no defense, that's tough."

ON WHAT STOOD OUT FROM MONIQUE BILLINGS:

"Her effort. Her effort, her rim protection, her rebounding, her tenacity. What I saw was, like, I just couldn't stop. Mo just kept moving, moving, moving. Her heap defense aside, her communication, I'm not surprised. She had so much energy, and we needed that tonight."

GUARDS VERONICA BURTON AND TIFFANY HAYES

ON TONIGHT'S TAKEAWAYS:

Burton: "Obviously, that's a frustrating loss. That's one that we can get and we should have gotten. There's some things we did well, especially down the stretch. I think we executed and got the looks that we wanted to in late-game situation, but it didn't go our way and I think there's a lot of things throughout the game that we need to clean up."

ON ADJUSTMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE:

Burton: "Of course it doesn't come down to the one play. It comes down to execution throughout the course of the game. It comes down to our start and taking away their first option, their first look and making adjustments on the fly on both sides of the basketball, and just making extra plays at the end of the day. I think we do a really good job of sacrificing for each other and staying together. But all the little things, that needs to be our main standard."

ON HONORING THE PIONEERS AND LASERS TONIGHT:

Hayes: "I think it's pretty cool that they honored them. It's definitely something that we cherish, because one day that's gonna be us, and I think for them to lay the foundation that they laid for us to be here today is a special thing. So definitely kudos to Golden State for showing them love and we got to spend some time with them today and it was pretty cool to meet them all, and they shared a little bit of their story so that was dope. That was a highlight for today."

Up Next

The Valkyries close out the first half of the season versus Seattle on Wednesday, July 16 at 12 p.m. on KPIX+, KMAX, and the Audacy App.

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